IOC Executive Board approves Tokyo 2020 venues

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board (EB) today approved the venues for skateboarding and sport climbing, as well as for the two newly-added disciplines, basketball 3x3 and BMX freestyle. The EB also heard updates from the PyeongChang 2018 and Tokyo 2020 Organising Committees, as well as reports about the progress of Beijing 2022, Paris 2024, Buenos Aires 2018 and Lausanne 2020. A number of other decisions were also made concerning the Olympic and Youth Olympic Games.

Yoshiro Mori, President of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, Toshiro Muto, CEO of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, and John Coates, Chair of the IOC Coordination Commission, reported that the Tokyo 2020 organisers continue to meet all of the key milestones in the lead-up to the Games. The EB approved Tokyo 2020’s request to approve two venues: Aomi Urban Sports Venue for basketball 3x3 and sport climbing; and Ariake, in the Tokyo Bay Zone for BMX racing, BMX freestyle and skateboarding. Both venues are expected to become symbolic locations for the Tokyo 2020 Games that will engage youth from around the world.

The EB also approved the shortlist of mascots for the 2020 Games, which will be unveiled tomorrow in Tokyo. From 11 December, voting will begin in elementary schools across Japan to select the winning design.

President Lee Hee-beom of the PyeongChang 2018 Organising Committee (POCOG) and Gunilla Lindberg, Chair of the IOC Coordination Commission, presented their respective updates on the current status of the preparations for the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. The highlights of the recent activities include the start of the Olympic Torch Relay and the final Project Review meeting, which was held in PyeongChang on 21 and 22 November.

Efforts to promote ticket sales have resulted in good progress in the last few weeks; and with all venues now complete and infrastructure projects also finalised, fans can expect to have a wonderful time in PyeongChang. President Bach praised the preparations and reaffirmed the full support of the IOC for POCOG in order to ensure the success of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.

IOC/Christophe Moratal

Christophe Dubi, IOC Olympic Games Executive Director, spoke on behalf of the Beijing 2022 Organising Committee, and explained that preparations at this stage are well on track. The official emblem for the Beijing Games was approved by the EB and will be unveiled soon by the local organisers. It was also announced that Juan Antonio Samaranch will become the ad-interim Chair of the IOC Coordination Commission, while IOC EB member Ser Miang Ng will be added to the Commission.

Dubi also briefly touched on the recent visit to Paris for the IOC Orientation Seminar, which saw the IOC, Paris 2024 and LA 2028 reinforce their commitment to organising the Olympic Games in a spirit of co-construction.

Two decisions were taken by the IOC Executive Board in relation to the Youth Olympic Games: the decision was approved to hold the fourth editions of the Summer and Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2022 and 2024 respectively. The 2022 candidature is to be added to the agenda for further discussion at the next meeting of the Executive Board in PyeongChang in February.

The IOC Executive Board also approved the qualification systems proposed by the respective IFs for the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020. The qualification systems comply with the Qualification System Principles approved by the IOC Executive Board in March 2017 and generally encompass the suggestions and recommendations made after the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lillehammer 2016.